


It could be worse

by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)



Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Crack, Derek makes a mistake, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, M/M, Pack Family, Pack Feels, Teasing Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23440024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/isthatbloodonhisshirt
Summary: The pack was still speaking to one another in hushed whispers when the front door opened, cutting off as if they’d only just realized the man had arrived. They were terrible Werewolves.Footsteps sounded behind him as the sheriff approached, and Derek could hear the fondness in his voice when he spoke.“You guys having a party in here?”Derek turned from his position by the doorway, the sheriff coming closer to see into the living room. The man froze at the sight of him, one hand doing a weird jerking motion beside his gun before he seemed to get himself under control. It occurred to Derek that the sheriff had almost grabbed his gun becausehe didn’t recognize him.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667605
Comments: 37
Kudos: 1085





	It could be worse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flymeofftoneverland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flymeofftoneverland/gifts).



> OKAY BUT LIKE, I HAD TO TAG YOU BECAUSE WE TALK ABOUT THIS ALLATIEMS! So yeah... <3 you Seven <3

Silence. 

That was what he was met with the moment he walked into the room.

Absolute and utter _silence_. 

That really didn’t bode well, and he was beginning to regret every decision he’d ever made, but probably not as much as the one he’d made that morning. 

Jackson’s face was twitching, like he was struggling not to laugh. Erica _was_ laughing, but the kind of silent laughter that she could hide behind her hands. Isaac and Scott were staring at him wide-eyed. Boyd seemed to be unaffected, but Derek could tell just based on the way his arms were tensed that he was either struggling to keep himself together or he was just as horrified as Isaac and Scott were. 

Allison was staring down at her nails, like they were the most fascinating thing in the world. Kira, similarly, was picking at a loose thread in the carpet. 

Stiles looked horrified. He looked betrayed, and upset, and borderline incensed. 

Lydia was the only one who scrutinized him with an air of indifference, arms crossed over her chest and one leg crossed over the other, bouncing it slightly while she tilted her head.

Derek was positive they would be there all night, everyone silent, unwilling to be the first to say something. 

He _knew_ , all right?! He _knew_ it was bad! He’d known the second he’d started that it was bad, but he’d _started_! He couldn’t very well _stop_ after he’d already fucking _started_. 

When the tension got so thick he was positive even his claws wouldn’t be able to cut through it, Lydia let out a sigh and turned to the room at large, shrugging one shoulder. 

“It could be worse.” 

Those four words opened the floodgates. Jackson burst into raucous laughter and the previously silent snickers coming from Erica exploded into full-blown snorts and a rather impressive hyena impression. Isaac and Scott let out dismayed sounds, Boyd covered his face with both hands and looked like he was either crying or laughing, Allison and Kira kept their gazes lowered, and Stiles turned to Lydia absolutely _horrified_. 

“How-how could it _possibly_ be worse?” he demanded incredulously, throwing one arm out towards Derek. “He looks like a salaryman? Oh my God, I’m dating a salaryman.” Stiles buried his face in both hands. “I’ve gone from hot Alpha Werewolf _God_ to salaryman in a matter of minutes. This is the worst.” 

“It’s not _that_ bad,” Derek muttered, rubbing at his clean-shaven face and trying not to let his lips lower in a frown. “It’ll grow back.” 

“When?!” Stiles demanded, shaking both fists towards Derek. “ _When_ will it grow back?! How could you do this to us, Derek? Shaving without our consent? Does our opinion mean _nothing_ to you! This should’ve been a pack decision! We all should’ve had a vote on whether or not you were allowed to shave!” 

“You look so stupid,” Erica said around her uncontrollable laughter. “So stupid. Oh my God. It hurts. I can’t stop laughing.”

“I didn’t have a beard when we first met,” Derek snapped, rubbing at his smooth cheek again and feeling self-conscious. 

“You were also eighteen when we first met,” Stiles reminded him, still sounding dismayed. “Derek, you can’t just _shave_ without asking us first! This is such a crime! The most heinous of crimes! I can’t believe you did this to us!” 

“It’ll grow back,” he insisted again, still rubbing at his smooth face. 

Honestly, he could understand where they were coming from, because it was just as weird for him as it was for them. Ever since the Betas had been Juniors in high school, Derek had been growing out his beard. Sure, he trimmed it, and he tried not to let it get _too_ long because Stiles teased him about being a bushman whenever he shifted, but he’d always _had_ his beard. Ever since he was nineteen, he’d had a beard. 

To touch his face and feel how smooth it was, not having the scratch of the stubble, was very strange. And it also occurred to him that Stiles, who often liked to drag his nails through it when they were kissing, was probably going to avoid touching his face in general given the lack of beard. 

“It’s so weird though,” Allison insisted in a hushed voice, like the room wasn’t _full of Werewolves_ who could all _hear her **perfectly**_! “Like, he looks completely different. Like a totally different person.” 

“What if I go to bed with him tonight, and forget he shaved, and wake up screaming thinking someone broke in?” Stiles asked back, in the same fake-whisper voice. 

“For fuck’s sake, it’s not _that_ bad,” Derek insisted. “It’s _fine_. It’ll grow back!” 

“And what if in that time you show up to a fight, and we accidentally attack you because we think you’re not one of ours?” Isaac asked. Scott was nodding emphatically beside him, like this was a truly genuine concern of theirs. That they wouldn’t recognize their own Alpha _because he’d shaved_ and would accidentally attack him. 

“My beard will grow back quickly. I’ll have stubble by tomorrow.” _I hope,_ Derek thought, rubbing at his smooth skin. After all, he’d shaved that morning and it was still baby smooth. What if he was that weird exception to the rule where his facial hair took weeks to grow back? He didn’t think he could handle Stiles’ horrified expressions for long, _or_ Jackson’s attempts not to die laughing. 

He knew they were exaggerating and being dicks about it because he looked weird, but still. He took this as his cue to never shave again. Besides, he didn’t _like_ shaving, so it wasn’t a hardship. He’d just trimmed a bit too much on one side this morning and rather than try and balance it out, he’d thought, “Fuck it.” and just shaved the whole thing off. 

Lesson learned. He wasn’t doing that again. 

The others were still talking about how _weird_ he looked and how _strange_ this all was when Derek heard a car approach. He recognized the sound of the engine, considering how many times he’d had to jump out of Stiles’ window back when the sheriff hadn’t liked him very much, so that meant the sheriff was home. 

They’d have to move this somewhere else, since it was late and the man had probably had a long, hard day at work. Considering his job, that wasn’t unusual. 

The pack was still speaking to one another in hushed whispers when the front door opened, cutting off as if they’d only just realized the man had arrived. They were terrible Werewolves. 

Footsteps sounded behind him as the sheriff approached, and Derek could hear the fondness in his voice when he spoke. 

“You guys having a party in here?” 

Derek turned from his position by the doorway, the sheriff coming closer to see into the living room. The man froze at the sight of him, one hand doing a weird jerking motion beside his gun before he seemed to get himself under control. It occurred to Derek that the sheriff had almost grabbed his gun because _he didn’t recognize him_. 

“Derek,” the sheriff said formally in greeting, eying him for a few seconds. “That’s—a new look for you.” 

“It’ll grow back!” Derek insisted, turning back to his Betas. 

Erica had started howling with laughter again and Stiles had gone back to moaning about dating a salaryman. 

The sheriff raised both hands in surrender while walking past, bringing one hand down to pat lightly at Derek’s shoulder in sympathy. 

“I hope it grows back quickly,” he said, and disappeared up the stairs. 

Derek was _never_ shaving again. 

His pack was the _worst_! 

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Teen Wolf (c) Jeff Davis 
> 
> Come chill with me on [Tumblr](https://isthatbloodonhisshirt.tumblr.com/).


End file.
